Trump: America’s Conspiracist-In-Chief

Conspiracy theorists are likely enjoying Trump’s circus-esque approach to running the office of the president.

Lie, after lie, Trump fanatics become more emboldened in backing the President, as his false statements represent a largely anti-intellectual movement coming to fruition. Just recently, Trump double-downed on the claim that the Obama Administration wiretapped Trump tower because “leaks” were apparently coming from the inside. However, this assertion hasn’t been backed by any cogent evidence. Even conservative-leaning intelligence agents, like James Comey, are refusing to back Trump’s presumably false claim.

But, it’s important to remember that conspiracy theories inspired Trump’s political ambitions. In 2011, Trump accused Barack Obama of not possessing a birth certificate, which, if true, would invalidate Obama’s presidency. After further review – i.e, nonpartisan entities reviewing the alleged allegations – the claim was proven false as President Obama’s birth certificate was found in Hawaii. Trump’s intentions were clear regardless of evidence presented: create ambiguity around Obama’s tenure as President in order to denigrate his character; and moreover, associate Obama with “radical Islam.”

Trump was quickly put in his place at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner: Obama used a video snippet from Disney’s “The Lion King” to mock Trump’s ludacris argument. After this embarrassing moment, Trump’s campaign sank faster than an anvil dropped into the Atlantic. There are some who claim that this public shaming of Trump’s glaring lie fueled his desire to run for office in the 2016 Presidential Election. Fast forward to now, and the aforementioned claim has been lended some credence: Trump is in-fact the President of the United States.

Incidentally, Trump’s support base contains an enclave of conspiracy theorists who see the President’s election as a validation of insidious government actions. Furthermore, because this particular enclave readily accepts factless sources, or misleading sources for that matter, Trump has been afforded a protective bubble of distractions. How so you may ask? The media’s ostensibly continuous obsession with covering Trump’s egregious lies provides a blanket of cover for his extremist policy decisions. While the media centered in on Trump’s Bowling Green Massacre fable, he slashed the EPA’s budget, implemented a Muslim ban, and dismantled tidbits of Obamacare, all by way of executive actions.

Now, how do conspiracy theorists view Trump? There isn’t much evidence to cogently prove a unified sentiment, but there is no doubt, that – based on current events – right-leaning conspiracy theorists refuse to rebut any of Trump’s idiotic statements. As his presidency moves forward, both conspiracy theorists and Republican lawmakers have mostly stayed mum when Trump takes to Twitter. Trump’s Twitter outbursts, which are mostly false when discussing policy or major events, are cited as facts by individuals on the far-right.

One example, fresh of the press, is Steve Bannon’s Tweet claiming that previous Obama Administration officials are going to be held legally culpable for various undiscovered scandals. But, once again, Bannon – similar to Trump – failed to provide a source. This type of argument can be best described as a value judgment that lacks fact-based premises. How can one reach a compelling conclusion when factually premises are nonexistent? Trump undoubtedly bolstered a factless sentiment whereby one’s opinion should be viewed as on par with in-depth and well-researched articles.

In all honesty, this is a trying time for America. If lying becomes commonplace then its children will likely be even more susceptible to questionable adult behavior. Lastly, an anti-intellectual movement akin to this creates an international perception of America being a nation that disregards and undervalues high-skilled, educationally oriented professions. Thankfully, Trump won’t be in power for decades. America’s checks and balances intelligently places a time restriction on radical movements.